Chapter 5: Goner
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to KOEI TECMO, TECMO and Team NINJA. I am not Yosuke Hayashi.
A/N: Alrighty so I'm leaving today for my Holidays. Internet will be tight where I go, so if it takes quite a while to update, don't be mad! Anyways, back to Ayane's Point Of View.
Don't forget to R&R!:)
It's now the beginning of February. Eliot and I have been getting closer and closer as friends, but he still refuses to let me see his house. I don't mind, but it's getting suspicious. It's as if he was hiding something from me. But it doesn't matter, being with him again just makes me happy.
Right, did I mention I have a crush on him?
It's not just because of his attractiveness, or his sense of humor, or his comforting hugs. It's just him as a person. He has a good soul, is always so nice and happy to help. Like his Community Service. He can spend days doing all of that.
"How many hours do you have?" I ask as we walk outside for lunch. He smiles at me. I'll never get tired of that smile.
"103 hours." He says proudly. I almost drop my books, as I gape at him.
"Where do you find the time to do all of that with all the five thousand projects we have?! I have to procrastinate every project I do and you still manage to get straight A's!" I complain. Eliot laughs.
"Aw, don't be mad, Ruby," He says, tugging at my bandana. I swat his hand away, but smile despite myself. I always soften when he calls me that.
"You have to teach me how to focus. I didn't study for my Maths test, which is right after second break. Please, Eliot. I really need you to help me." I whine. He smiles, and we sit down on the grass under the same tree from his first day.
"I'd do anything for you, Ayane," He whispers back. My heart hammers against my chest; those little things. Those things he says to me, I can't even respond to them. They leave me completely speechless, mouth agape, or just shocked. I smile at him, aware of the warm blush that coats my cheeks.
"I hate Maths." I respond flatly, changing the subject.
Eliot chuckles, "I love the subject. It's so fun." My nose scrunches in disgust.
"How can you love it? And why must we do it anyway? You know, Eliot, I'm still waiting for the day that x+1-4d(7xy-8xy)5y+67y=3-45x will help me in real life." I say, paging through my file. Eliot's proximity makes me dizzy. I have to lean into him, just slightly.
"Like...when you choose your boyfriends?" He raises his eyebrows.
"Yeah! Like when I choose my boyfriends! I mean, I'm not going to go to one of them and be like, 'hey! Did you know that one plus one equals me and you?' That would be a turn off." I scoff and he laughs again. I feel proud to make him laugh, like I had just seen Mount Fuji and not died from extreme heat. I continue to stare at his face, ignoring my Maths book now. I don't give two shits about it now. I can't seem to focus on anything else. Eliot notices this, and his blond brows furrow in confusion.
"Is there something on my face?" He asks curiously. I chuckle.
"No, it's just... your face." I finish. He laughs shortly, his hand going over his face experimentally.
"Are you saying that I'm ugly?" He raises his eyebrows. I gasp at his insinuation. Impulsively, I cup his face and make him look in my blood red eyes. His face is shocked, and his eyes flit to my lips for a millisecond before meeting my eyes again.
"Of course not! It's just, you look a lot like your mom, that's all! I mean, you have her hair..." I push some blond hair out of his face, "her eyes," his eyes flutter shut as I run my thumb over them, feeling the softness of his eyelashes, "her kind of pale skin," I allow myself to caress his cheeks, like I had dreamed to do the first day he came, my thumb running over his dimples, and suddenly he smiles, "and your l-lips." I hesitantly press my thumb to his lips. His smile falters. It seems intimate, and I don't know what I'm doing. These actions are for lovers, girlfriend and boyfriend, not friends. I don't think so, anyways. His eyes slowly open as I retract my hands from his face.
"You seem to know my mother quite a lot." Eliot says, smiling. I look away, suddenly shy.
"She's a beautiful model, and she owns two orphanages in China and Japan. What can I say? Marilyn McArthur is my idol. Sometimes, I wish I could be like her." I look up to the sky, then shake my head, "why are we having a conversation about your mother?"
"You brought it up!" He says, mocking defensiveness. I swat his arm and laugh. It's only been four weeks and I'm already so comfortable with him. He makes me feel peaceful.
However, that bubble of peace is pierced, and the air fills with expensive perfume. I almost gag, and my eyes water. I recognise that smell. The intoxicating smell of a witch, the devil's wife, the putrid smell of-
"Hi, Eliot," Kokoro Douglas purrs, clearly trying to be seductive, although, her naturally high voice ruins it. Her fake smile falters when her gray eyes meet my red ones. I glare at her, trying to send her scurrying away. Kasumi said that I look scary when I glare at people like that. It's a bit like Hitomi's German side.
"Kokoro," Eliot says, nodding curtly. I don't know how he does it; keep his composure around that She Devil.
"So the Valentine's Ball is in two weeks. And I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go with me?" She sticks her lips out, trying out for a pout. She honestly looks like a fish, or a duck, or both.
Now Ayane, says a voice in my head, that's offensive to fish and ducks. I successfully manage to hide my snicker.
"Sorry, Kokoro," says Eliot calmly, "I'm not going."
Kokoro's face falls, "why not?" She manages to ask, clearly fighting to hide the annoyance in her voice.
"Because Valentine's day's my Mum's birthday." He replies. He's lying, I would know. His mother's birthday is in September. But damn, he's good. I would have believed him if he told me that it was Marilyn's birthday.
Kokoro's only response comes out as an, "oh."
"Hey, Kokoro," I interrupt, and she narrows her eyes at me, placing her hands on her hips, "I heard Brad Wong's available. He's actually meant to ask you to the dance today at second break in the cafeteria. In a song." I say. Her eyes widen in horror, before they squint again.
"You're such a liar, Ayane. There's no way he would do that. He's always too drunk to speak." She tosses her raven hair over her shoulder.
"Are you sure? I mean, he even prepared a duet." I raise my eyebrows. She snorts.
"I know you recognise my talents for singing, but-" She starts, but I cut her off quickly.
"Woah there, black stallion. I never said that you could sing well. I just said-" She cuts me off.
"I'm not a horse, and I sing better than you. Admit it. Just because your sister could be a pop star doesn't mean that you are. I mean, I could take you on a karaoke any time. And win it effortlessly" She snarls. I growl quietly, standing. Eliot grabs my hand, trying to stop me, but I jerk it off.
"Fine, then. At the ball there's a karaoke competition, right? If I win, you yell to everyone that you just a fake and declare that you're a bitch. Don't forget about your sister, too. Oh and also, tell everyone that you slept with Coach Bayman." I say menacingly. She glares at me, but nods.
"Alright, Tenshin. If I win, you have to stay away from Eliot and let me date him for two entire weeks. If you don't respect that, I'll post those pictures of you when you had braces." She smirks at my gasp. Nobody else but her and my family knows about them.
"Ayane-" Eliot starts protesting, but I cut him off.
"You little piece of- fine!" I yell, and she struts away, swaying her hips, clearly trying to get Eliot to look. He doesn't even spare a glance at her, in fact, he's staring at me. My nostrils are flaring, my fists clenched and my body in some sort of stance. My chest heaves up and down.
"How could you?" His voice sounds broken. I look at him, my body relaxing a bit.
"Eliot-" I start, but he cuts me off.
"Am I some sort of prize? Some stuffed toy you win at a festival?" He snaps. I've never seen him pissed, and suddenly, I'm scared. I don't want to lose him. Kokoro could...she could try to comfort him. I then realise how selfish I sound.
"Eliot, please. Listen to me- I-I- I'm sorry. I was- I was controlled by my anger and- Kokoro just- she gets to my nerves and knows what makes me angry. I didn't mean to make you feel like an object... I'm so sorry." I finish lamely, sinking to the floor, tears filling my eyes. I don't want to lose him, too. It's exactly how I lost a friend in Kokoro. I don't want to relieve these painful moments, but the memory just comes full force.
Kokoro and I were in eighth grade. That moment was when girls are interested in boys. We made a pact to never put boys before our everlasting friendship. So there we were, giggling at really handsome boys winking at us. Kokoro was the most obsessed with them. I was just a romantic freak.
"Oh my God! I love High School!" Kokoro squealed. I rolled my eyes.
"Just because of the boys. They're cuter than the ones in seventh grade." I said honestly. She nodded, then blushed when a Matric boy winked at her. She giggled girlishly and waved back.
"Kokoro! He's in Matric!" I protest.
"So? He's so hot, Ayane! And anyways, four years apart isn't that long!" She said, grinning like a fool. She then stuck her hand out, as if asking me to come with her on the journey to find an older boyfriends. I hesitated, but ended up taking it.
I never knew that it would end so badly.
A night that I came back from a party, dressed by Kokoro like a whore, my parents were in the living room, waiting for me. They weren't alone, Kasumi and Hayate were next to them, Kasumi's eyes were bloodshot from crying and Hayate was scowling, clenching and unclenching his fists, as if controlling his anger.
"Ayane. Where have you been?" Shiden, my father, asked. He was angry, as his voice was low like a predator. My body quaked in fear.
"A p-party." I stuttered out.
"Which party?" Hayate snarled. Kasumi put a hand on his arm, an attempt at calming him down.
"J-J..." I trailed off.
"J who, Ayane?" Kasumi asked softly.
"Junji Tsukino. Look, I know I came a bit late-" I started, but my father cut me off.
"It's not because of that, young lady. It's this," my father showed a used condom and I froze, "why was this in your room, Ayane?! I thought we had raised you better than that! It's illegal to do such things!" He boomed.
"I didn't do it!" I protested, "I didn't have sex! It was...it was..." My eyes filled with tears.
"Who was it, Ayane?" My mother asked. I struggled to say anything, then sighed.
"Kokoro. Her parents were there all night and she needed a space with her boyfriend. I-I didn't know they were going to..." I didn't finish my sentence and crumbled to the floor, my heart breaking. I betrayed my best friend. Kasumi sat next to me and pulled me into a hug. I heard my Dad sigh.
"Daddy?" I asked, meekly, like a mouse.
"Yes?" He responded.
"Are you going to tell her parents?" I asked, fearful for the response.
He sighed again, "no, little flower. But I'm going to ask you to stay away from older grades. That means that you have to stay away from Kokoro." I wanted to shout. Kokoro was my best friend since nursery, and I had to leave her? Just like that? But it was that or getting her in trouble. I sighed resignedly.
The next day, I ignored Kokoro for the whole school day. Well until she cornered me.
"What's wrong with you? Why aren't you speaking to me? Did I do something wrong?" She asked, worried. I pushed her away, tears filling my eyes, and anger filling my senses inexplicably.
"I just don't want to be your friend anymore! You slut!" I shoved her one more time, and then ran, tears streaming down my face. I could hear her calling for me, telling me to come back, but I didn't listen. I ran home, and crashed on my bed, crying. Kasumi was right there, and pulled me into a hug, cooing that it would be okay.
But I knew it wouldn't. And I knew Kokoro hated me.
My best friend...
I didn't even realise that I was telling the story to Eliot, until he had pulled me onto his lap and rocked me back and forth. But I am not crying, at least, not sobbing. Only silent tears stream down my face. The pain had numbed long ago. I don't care anymore.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you- it wasn't appropriate." Eliot whispers. I look up at him and smile ruefully.
"It's alright. I have anger issues, and I had to be reprimanded somehow. Thanks for being with me, Eliot." I say and wrap my arms around his neck. He sighs and wraps his arms around my waist. People would think that we're a couple, but I don't care.
When I pull away and look at his face, into his beautiful sea blue irises and feel my heart beat faster, I know.
I know I am such a goner for this boy.
A/N: So a bit sad and intimate. Eliot and Ayane have grown closer. Oh! And the karaoke competition was your ideas!
Now again, it's up to you! Which songs do you think Ayane should sing? Which one do you think Kokoro should? Review your ideas for the songs!
Question: what song do you think Brad Wong will sing to ask Kokoro at the Valentine's ball?:D that will be a hilarious one!
Don't forget to R&R!:)